Optimum magnesium intake might prevent ADD/ADHD, Alzheimer's and mental decline

Optimum magnesium intake might prevent ADD/ADHD, Alzheimer's and mental decline:

Magnesium, the fourth most abundant mineral in the body, plays a crucial role in activating over 300 chemical responses. It is responsible for the proper formation of bones, maintaining normal muscle function, regulating body temperature, and proper absorption of calcium...

Parsley is an effective antioxidant, diuretic, blood tonic, and more

Parsley is an effective antioxidant, diuretic, blood tonic, and more:

(NaturalNews) Parsley, that little piece of leafy green garnish that seems to decorate every plate in restaurants all across the U.S., is actually a serious herb which packs a powerful punch. Most people smile and ask sheepishly, "Are we supposed to eat it?" If it is certified organic parsley, then the answer is "yes." Parsley leaf is loaded with antioxidants and is a fantastic diuretic. The herb is a wonderful kidney aid, helping to get rid of kidney stones and edema (swelling), as well as healing any urinary tract infection or inflammation. Parsley root is high in calcium, iron, and B complex vitamins. The antioxidants in parsley are able to combat oxidative stress in vivo The British Journal of Nutrition published a medical study to measure the antioxidant capabilities of parsley (Petroselinum crispum). Fourteen people ate a restricted diet for two weeks which was high in parsley, but low in other foods containing flavones and other natural sources of antioxidants. Urinary excretion of the flavone apigenin was measured before and during the ingestion of parsley. Apigenin levels were noticeably higher when parsley was added to the diet. The researchers noted that when the subjects were on the restricted diet, their oxidative stress markers rose. However, when the people added parsley during the second week of study, the parsley was able to reverse these numbers somewhat. Parsley is a scientifically proven diuretic In 2002, the Journal of Ethnopharmacology published a study confirming the diuretic effects of parsley, as claimed for years in folk medicine literature. Rats were given parsley seed tea to drink. Over a twenty-four hour period, the rats had a marked increase in urinary volume. The scientists believed that parsley works as a diuretic due to a mechanism in the herb which blocks the re-absorption of sodium and potassium. This causes more water to flow via osmosis, and hence, a greater urinary volume. Herbalists use parsley for kidneys, joint problems, nerves, and more Dr. John R. Christopher, one of the greatest master herbalists of the twentieth century, used parsley in a variety of ways. He used the herb not only for all kidney and bladder issues, but also for jaundice and sexually-transmitted diseases. Dr. Christopher used parsley for water retention (edema), and suggested parsley root tea for stiff fingers and other joint issues. He said gallstones could be removed by drinking a pint of fresh parsley tea every day. The herb is also calming to the nerves and adrenal glands. Dr. Christopher recommended at least two quarts of strong parsley tea per day for these issues, or even up to a cup of tea every hour. To make fresh parsley tea, add a large handful of parsley to a pint of boiling water. Cover, steep, and drink the tea throughout the day. According to Dr. Christopher, fresh parsley juice is a very potent healer. Parsley juice is an effective blood tonic, but it should be diluted with some other kind of fresh, organic juice, such as carrot juice. No more than an ounce or two of parsley juice should be taken at any one time. Sources for this article include: Pubmed.gov. "Effect of parsley (Petroselinum crispum) intake on urinary apigenin excretion, blood antioxidant enzymes and bio-markers for oxidative stress in human subjects," S.E. Nielsen, et al. British Journal of Nutrition June 1999; 81(6): 447-55. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10615220 Pubmed.gov. "Diuretic effect and mechanism of action of parsley," S.I. Kreydiyyeha and J. Usta. Journal of Ethnopharmacology March 2002; 7993): 353-7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11849841 Herbal Legacy.com. "Parsley," by Dr. John R. Christopher http://articles.herballegacy.com/parsley/ About the author: This article is provided courtesy of Donna Earnest Pravel, owner and senior editor of Heart of Texas Copywriting Solutions.com. Get free biweekly tips on natural healing and herbs by visiting her blog,Bluebonnet Natural Healing Therapy.

Six steps to create your own organic permaculture garden

Six steps to create your own organic permaculture garden: "

Six steps to create your own organic permaculture garden

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 by: Tara Green

(NaturalNews) Organic gardening avoids the use of chemicals to make plants grow or protect them from insects, relying instead on natural gardening principles used for thousands of years. Permaculture organic gardening goes a step further and also emphasizes growing plants sustainably, working with rather than against the grain of the natural environment. Permaculture organic gardening is growing in popularity as more people realize that it offers an inexpensive and relatively low-maintenance way to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Choosing a location

Observe your property at different times of day. Consider which areas receive the most sun, which are in shade for much of the day. Depending on where you live, if sunshine is a scarce commodity, you will want to expose plants to receive as much as possible. On the other hand, in desert regions, you will not want your plants to be in the area most likely to be parched by sun exposure. Also think protecting your garden from the paths where strong winds tend to blow through your property. Even a small property will have microclimates -- notice these and plant accordingly to give different plants either more sun or more shade according to their preference.

Selecting plants

Avoid disease-prone plants which require time-consuming chores such as spraying and pruning by the gardener. Select plants which will thrive in your area rather than those which will require extra labor on your part to protect them from the environment. As far as possible, select plants which serve multiple purposes, such as fruit trees which will put forth blossoms in one season, fruit to pick in another, and provide shade for when you want to sit and enjoy your garden's natural beauty. Native plants are also more likely to attract local pollinators such as bees, and to draw butterflies so that your garden contains even more natural beauty.

Making a home for your plants

Raised beds require less physical effort on the part of the gardener and also benefit plants, providing better air circulation, more protection from spring chills and improved usage of water. Raised beds also mean a small permaculture garden is an option even for apartment dwellers and others with little available space since you can rely on containers and vertical gardening principles.

Feeding your plants

One of the key concepts of permaculture organic gardening is to avoid waste. Having a garden gives you a means of re-using natural waste such as eggshells, apple cores, coffee grinds as well as yard waste which many people throw away. You can either purchase or make a compost bin to turn this organic material into gardening gold which can be used to help your plants grow.

Watering your plants

Modern gardeners who do not follow sustainability principles tend to draw heavily on piped-in water resources, often using hoses and sprinklers to make plants which require abundant water grow in a desert climate. Permaculture organic gardening tries to use natural water as much as possible, maximizing the use of groundwater and rainwater. Rain barrels allow you to collect rainfall and extend its use over longer periods of time.

Protecting plants from pests

Eschewing the use of chemicals does not have to mean a garden full of pests. You can use companion gardening principles, growing plants which deter pests near those which attract them. There is also a natural synergy between some plants which means planting them near each other increases your yield. Also, just as some herbs have a medicinal effect on human health, they also offer benefits to plants which grow near them. For more information about companion planting, visit http://www.appropedia.org/CCAT_companion_plantingand http://www.gardeningknowhow.com

If you have space and live in an area where it is permissible to keep poultry, chickens can make a wonderful addition to a permaculture garden. If they are permitted free-range for most of the day, they will consume many pests. Chicken manure also contributes beneficial nitrogen to the soil of your garden.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.safecom.org.au/permaculture.htm

http://www.organicgardening.com

http://www.appropedia.org/Beginners_permaculture_garden

Turn Your Android Device into a Portable Workstation in a Pinch [Android]

Turn Your Android Device into a Portable Workstation in a Pinch [Android]:

If you're lucky enough to have an Android device running Ice Cream Sandwich, like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the folks at ExtremeTech have a great walkthrough on how to turn your handset into a fairly powerful workstation. You'll need a couple of items to get started, but the end result is that your phone can turn into a desktop almost anywhere you go. More »

Rescue Your Cast Iron from Rust with Vinegar [Household]

Rescue Your Cast Iron from Rust with Vinegar [Household]:

We've discussed several ways to season cast iron here at Lifehacker, but what if your roomie let your cast iron soak in water overnight, or heaven forbid, put it in the dishwasher? Grab an abrasive pad and some white vinegar. With a little work, your cast iron will be as good as new. More »

Android 3.1 devices have USB host mode. Here’s how to use it.

Android 3.1 devices have USB host mode. Here’s how to use it.:

With the coming of Android 3.1 you finally have the option of using the device as a USB host. This may be through a USB OTG (On-the-Go) adaptor, but nonetheless it’s a feature which was sorely missed until now. [Manuel] put together a guide on using Android as a USB host. As you can see, his example hardware is an Arduino board but this is applicable with just about any device.

The tutorial implements a test app for the Android device where a slider will set the brightness of the Arduino’s on-board LED. The Arduino sketch is nothing special, it just reads data received on the UART. This means that it doesn’t care if it’s connected to an Android, PC, OSX, or Linux system, it goes about its business until the RX interrupt updates the data variable.

This will greatly simplify a lot of projects we’ve seen, such as this message scrolling belt buckle. That used extra hardware to make the Arduino the host, a step that is now necessary.

Filed under: android hacks

Gogglevision Quadcopter Video

Gogglevision Quadcopter Video:


Steve Lodefink sent me this amazing video of a guy flying his quadcopter around his neighborhood using a goggle vision system. He even flies it through his(?)house. What fun!

Seven reasons to eat more dark chocolate

Seven reasons to eat more dark chocolate:

More and more health reasons for eating dark chocolate keep coming in. Many will be pointed out here, then explained further in the sources indicated by numbers in parenthesis. But first, understand that organic dark chocolate brought into the market place under fair...

Life-threatening infectious disease responds better to homeopathy than allopathic medicine

Life-threatening infectious disease responds better to homeopathy than allopathic medicine:

'via Blog this'

Do Not Track Plus Stops Ad Companies and Others from Tracking You Online [Video]

Meet the Makers, MAKE Volume 29: Simon Jansen’s Nerf Gun

Mirror

LED Mirror Sports Anti-Fog Heating Element

Attractive females targeted by TSA agents for multiple naked body scanner screenings

Attractive females targeted by TSA agents for multiple naked body scanner screenings

Use fiber-rich, vegetable-based diet for fibroid treatment

Use fiber-rich, vegetable-based diet for fibroid treatment

Vitamin C proven to help protect Fukushima victims from radiation poisoning, cancer

Vitamin C proven to help protect Fukushima victims from radiation poisoning, cancer:

Pretreatment with intravenous vitamin C and other oral antioxidants has been demonstrated once again to provide significant protection against radiation poisoning and cancer. Dr. Atsuo Yanagisawa, M.D., Ph.D., from the Japanese College of IV Therapy recently conducted...

(NaturalNews) Pretreatment with intravenous vitamin C and other oral antioxidants has been demonstrated once again to provide significant protection against radiation poisoning and cancer. Dr. Atsuo Yanagisawa, M.D., Ph.D., from the Japanese College of IV Therapy recently conducted a study which found that Fukushima workers who underwent a high-dose vitamin C pretreatment prior to handling radioactive debris during cleanup efforts were protected against DNA damage and cancer.

The Orthomolecular Medicine News Service (OMNS) reports that Dr. Yanagisawa evaluated 16 men between the ages of 32 and 59 that worked between five and six weeks in a high-radiation area of Fukushima. Some of the men received 25,000 milligrams (mg) of intravenous vitamin C therapy along with oral intake of other powerful antioxidants like alpha-lipoic acid and vitamin E prior to entering the contaminated area, while the others received no pretreatment at all.

After taking blood samples from all the men and evaluating them for whole blood count and chemistry, as well as for plasma levels of free DNA and 47 cancer-related gene expressions, Dr. Yanagisawa and his team found that those who received the vitamin C therapy experienced no increase in cancer risk or change in free DNA. Those who did not receive the treatment, on the other hand, had significantly increased cancer risk.

Those who did not receive pretreatment, but that received a post-treatment intervention with the same regimen for two months, however, saw their heightened free DNA levels return to normal. Their overall cancer risk score also returned back to normal, illustrating the incredible power of vitamin C and other antioxidants to protect against, and even reverse, the damage caused by radiation.

"This important clinical demonstration confirms research done nearly 20 years ago showing that pretreatment with vitamin C, by oral intake or injection, increased sperm head survival after the injection of radioactive Iodine-131 in mice," says the OMNS report.

Vitamin C is one of the most powerful nutrients in protecting against cell-damaging free radicals. And while ascorbic acid, the popular isolated version of vitamin C, has its demonstrable therapeutic uses, the camu camu berry is one of the most powerful vitamin C-rich superfoods for gaining the same health benefits naturally. The acerola cherry is also another vitamin C-dense superfood with amazing radio-protective abilities.

Sources for this article include:

http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v08n06.shtml

http://www.doctoryourself.com/Radiation_VitC.pptx.pdf

http://www.naturalnews.com/032104_vitamin_C_radiation_exposure.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/Report_Camu_Camu_0.html

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/034993_vitamin_C_radiation_poisoning_cancer.html#ixzz1mdLW8XJX

Build a Better Nerf Gun

Build a Better Nerf Gun:

There was no shortage of Nerf guns and other toy weapons in Simon Jansen’s geek-filled office, but none of them impressed Simon, so like any good maker would do, he decided to build a better Nerf gun himself. His coworker Lester had brought in the Nerf Maverick, and though he could load multiple darts, the accuracy and range left much to be desired. Simon knew one shot was all he needed if he had a superior weapon, and he was right. He shared his build instructions with us in the current issue of MAKE Volume 29, and we’ve shared the full build with you on Make: Projects. Let the games begin!

From the intro:

I made the pistol from PVC pipe, aluminum extrusion, and aluminum tubing, with wood for the grip and various pieces of metal and plastic, mostly from my junk box — and you can easily adapt the design to use what you have in yours. A sliding trigger and telescoping plunger keep the pistol short and compact. You’ll need a small metal lathe to machine some of the parts, but as there’s nothing too critical in the design, this is a nice project to hone your skills.

Here’s a breakdown of how it works:

1. To cock the gun, the user pulls back the (A) ring. This slides the telescoping plunger’s (B) inner rod back until its inner stop hits the inner rod (C) catch piece.

2. Further pulling draws the (D) piston back against the (E) compression spring, until the (F) catch wire clicks sideways into a groove in the end stop, holding the piston back in its cocked position.

3. The user may then push the ring back in, telescoping the plunger rod back with the pull ring just behind the (G) end cap.

4. Pulling the (H) trigger causes a (I) sliding plate to release the catch wire. The piston pushes forward and propels the (J) Nerf dart with air pressure squeezed from the chamber into the narrower barrel, rather than through direct spring action.

And here’s Simon showing how much his Nerf gun is better than the Maverick, by shooting a blindfolded Bender:

From the pages of MAKE Volume 29:

We have the technology (to quote The Six Million Dollar Man), but commercial tools for exploring, assisting, and augmenting our bodies really can approach a price tag of $6 million. Medical and assistive tech manufacturers must pay not just for R&D, but for expensive clinical trials, regulatory compliance, and liability — and doesn’t help with low pricing that these devices are typically paid for through insurance, rather than purchased directly. But many gadgets that restore people’s abilities or enable new “superpowers” are surprisingly easy to make, and for tiny fractions of the costs of off-the-shelf equivalents. MAKE Volume 29, the “DIY Superhuman” issue, explains how.

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